Low Risk Maternity Collective: A PILOT Partnership between Physicians and Midwives at FMC
Registered Midwife – FMC/ Low Risk Maternity Collective
Location: Calgary Zone, Foothills Medical Centre, (FMC) Calgary and community clinic (NW Calgary)
Category: Low Risk Maternity Provider
The Low Risk Maternity Collective (LRMC) is currently recruiting 4 (four) registered midwives to join a collaborative interprofessional pilot with the Low Risk Maternity Physicians at FMC. The collaborative pilot will be comprised of likeminded physicians and aligned midwives to provide comprehensive maternity care, including regular antenatal care, intrapartum care at Foothills Medical Centre, and the option for home visits in the post-partum period. A successful collaboration requires that physician & midwives are mutually respectful of each other’s profession and practice within their licenced scope of practice.
The Midwives will be part of the Low Risk Maternity Collective and expected to help develop innovative collaborative processes to support this pilot project.
To address the barriers identified to providing collaborative intrapartum care, the pilot will commence with one primary midwife to provide deliveries and an additional 3 midwives to support outpatient care. The purpose of this incremental pilot would be to build relationships and address feasibility concerns with existing obstetrical providers at FMC.
Applicants are required to be current members of the AHS Midwifery Staff with Clinical Privileges in the Calgary Zone.
Start date March 2025 for a duration of 1 year with a potential for extension.
Financial Model
• Position Classification: Part-time
• FTE: 0.5 (16-20 hours per week) x four positions
• The Provincial Midwifery Administrative Office- Primary Care Alberta has approved this collaborative pilot with the
• Low Risk Maternity Collective and will utilize a Midwifery Alternate Funding (MAF) process.
• The Low Risk Maternity Collective will hold a Services Agreement with Primary Care Alberta
• Midwives will be required to hold a contract with the Low Risk Maternity Collective that will outline funding arrangements including overhead
• Part-time opportunity will allow that successful applicants can maintain requirements for registration with College of Midwives of Alberta
0.5FTE (Primary Midwife to pilot collaborative intrapartum care)
• one clinic per week (half day appointments + half day home visits)
• one - 12h call shift per week
• A successful candidate would be a likeminded midwife who demonstrates communication skills and teamwork with preexisting nursing staff and obstetricians at FMC. Experience with other collaborative programs or similar hospital-based practice preferred
• MOREOB/Advances in Labour and Risk Management (ALARM) – desired
• Total of 20 hours per week
0.5FTE (3 midwives to support outpatient care) for total 1.5 FTE
• 2 -3days per week (combination of half day clinic appointments + half day home visits)
• Connected to primary midwife to support antenatal care & home visits
• Anticipated to join the hospital on-call rotation should the initial collaboration prove successful (3-4 call shifts each per month)
• A successful candidate would be an aligned midwife demonstrating adherence to standards of practice, willing to support the introduction of early hospital discharge with home-visit support for low risk maternity patients, and offer clients non-authoritarian support through Informed consent in a collaborative care model
• Total of 16 -20 hours per week
Community Info
The Low Risk Maternity Clinic was established in 1990 and has recently relocated its outpatient clinic to two locations in northwest Calgary. LRMC provides 24h in-house hospital coverage 7 days a week. At full capacity, the collective anticipates an average of 1.6- 2.3 deliveries per 12 hour shift (averages being what they are). Hospital call includes triage visits for antenatal concerns and postpartum complications up to 12weeks. Recently FMC approved one-to-one RN support to all midwife clients, allowing MW’s to act as the MRP in the same manner as the low-risk MD. Mutual support for busier on-call days has been historically provided through the 2nd low risk call group. Both midwives and physicians consult Obstetrics as indicated by the collaborate care guidelines. Postpartum care in-hospital care is currently supported by in-house Nurse Practitioner who consults LRMC partners as needed.
The following barriers need to be addressed by Low Risk Maternity Collective Partners:
1. Building relationships of trust with current FMC providers (Obstetrics, Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioner, second family medicine call group). Opportunities exist to participate in team-based committees such as CoAct or MoreOB.
2. Ensure equal standards of care, within licenced scope. The Maternity Collective expects that the successful candidates complete Advanced Competency Training available for Registered Midwives in the near future.
3. A potential future direction of the pilot would be the addition of Group prenatal appointments from 18w to six weeks postpartum. The goal would be to provide educational support, connection, and addresses early postnatal medical needs in a family centered, culturally sensitive manner.
Application deadline: February 15, 2025
Please send applications to: lrmcfinances@gmail.com C/O Dr. Cara Janzen
• Please contact Dr. Cara Janzen (email above) or the Provincial Midwifery Administrative Office for any questions regarding this collaborative initiative: Danica.sharp@primarycarealberta.ca